Running Around Irene

If you think I let a hurricane get in the way of my running schedule, you are sorely mistaken. That Saturday morning was ominous, as Irene began brewing, but the rain hadn't started yet. I finished my six-mile tempo run minutes before the sky opened up. That night, as the winds picked up, I spent the evening with friends in Clifton, driving home in a gusty, torrential downpour in the middle of the night.

In the morning, as news of flooding and damage spread, I waited for the wind and rain to die down and did my 13.1 mile long run, bringing my camera along to take pictures of any damage. There were some downed trees and branches along my route in Montclair and Cedar Grove, but nothing too terrible.

The next morning, I took a walk through downtown Little Falls, its Singac section, and the border of Wayne. The flooding was terrible. Entire streets underwater, property in ruins.

During the course of the following week, I had to take detours from my usual running routes because the roads were still flooded. It took weeks for some roads like Riverview Drive in Totowa and McBride Avenue in Woodland Park to finally open again.

But through it all, I ran, and I am glad I did. When your feet literally traverse the ground through these areas that got hit so hard, you feel a deeper connection with the gravity of the situation that has befallen it. Especially heartbreaking was seeing the ever-so-slow process of getting Memorial School in Woodland Park in shape to reopen in the middle of September to finally begin its school year.

On foot, you simply notice and care more than behind the wheel. Running before, during and after Hurricane Irene provided meaningful context to such a sweeping disaster.